WARNING

This service can only be used to notify the subscribing media organisations of your intention to apply to the Family Division for an injunction which will affect their rights under Article 10 by prohibiting or restricting reporting.

It may be used by applicants seeking injunctions or reporting restriction orders in three circumstances:

1: To notify the media of an application for an injunction from the Family Division of the High Court to protect the privacy of a child or patient or restrict publication of information about specified individuals.

2: To notify the media of applications in the Family Division of the High Court for orders giving anonymity to people such as social workers or medical experts and other witnesses when parties to proceedings seek the publication of the judgments. This follows guidance from by Mr Justice Munby in his decision of March 30, 2007 in In the matter of William Ward - BBC v (1) Cafcass Legal, Cambridgeshire County Council, Victoria Ward, Jake Ward, William Ward, acting by his children's guardian Carol Clements, Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridgeshire Constabulary, Doctor A, Doctor B ([2007] EWHC 616 (Fam)).

3: To notify the media of your intention to apply for an order to exclude journalists from the entirety of proceedings in the family courts, following the President's judgment of July 15 2009 in Re X (A Child) (Residence and Contact) ([2009] EWHC 1728 (Fam)).

This service cannot be used to serve injunctions or orders you have already obtained.

Attempts to serve orders via this service will not be accepted as service, and will not be valid. All orders must be served directly on the organisations you wish to be bound by them. Please refer to the Practice Direction and the accompanying Practice Note, which can be found on this website.

Judges will expect applicants to have filled out the checklist for those applying for injunctions before they entertain an application. The Checklist PDF can be downloaded here

The Official Solicitor and Acting Director of Legal
Services of CAFCASS issued jointly on 18 March 2005 the following
Practice Note which is to be read in conjunction with the
President of the Family's Division's Practice Direction.

This Note sets out recommended practice in relation
to any application in the Family Division founded on Convention
rights for an order which restricts freedom of expression.
It is issued in conjunction with the President's Practice
Direction "Applications For Reporting Restriction Orders"
dated 18 March 2005 ([2005] 2 FLR 120) and is subject to decisions
of the courts. It applies directly to any proceedings
in which CAFCASS or the Official Solicitor represent a
child or incapacitated adult, and follows discussions
between the Official Solicitor, the Acting Director, CAFCASS
Legal Services and Special Casework and representatives
of media interests.

Statutory Provisions
An application founded on Convention rights need only
be made where statutory provisions cannot provide adequate
protection. Relevant provisions are Administration of
Justice Act 1960, s.12(1); Children and Young Persons
Act 1933, s.39; Contempt of Court Act 1981, s.11; Children
Act 1989, s.8 (prohibited steps order preventing disclosure
of information by parental figure) and s.97(2). Whilst
the President's Practice Direction is not aimed at applications
under these provisions, s.12(2) of the Human Rights
Act 1998 applies to any application for relief which
might affect the exercise of the Convention right to
freedom of expression and the procedures set out in
this Note, including the arrangements for advance notification,
can be used to secure compliance with this section in
relation to any such application under these provisions.
An order founded on Convention rights may be required,
for example, because:

the need for protection is not linked to particular
court proceedings

the statutory provisions do not prevent publication
of all kinds of information

an injunction is needed to prevent approaches to
family, doctors or carers.

Application and Evidence
The application may be a freestanding claim brought
under the Part 8 procedure in the Civil Procedure Rules
1998 or it may be made within existing proceedings to
which either the CPR or Family Proceedings Rules 1991
apply. It may be appropriate to seek a direction under
CPR 39.2(4), where it applies, that the identity of
a party or witness should not be disclosed, and for
documents to be drafted identifying individuals by initials.
The applicant should prepare (a) the application/claim
form (b) a witness statement justifying the need for
an order (c) any legal submissions (d) a draft order
and (e) an explanatory note.
Model Forms of Order and an example of an explanatory
note are attached to this Practice Note and can be downloaded
from the websites of either the Official Solicitor (www.offsol.demon.co.uk)
or CAFCASS (www.cafcass.gov.uk).
In the rare event that it is not possible to draft
such documentation in the time available before the
hearing, the court is likely to require the applicant
to file a statement at the earliest opportunity, setting
out the information placed orally before the court.
Subject to any contrary direction of the court, this
material should be made available on request to any
person who is affected by the order. See W-v-H
(Family Division: Without Notice Orders) [2001]
2 WLR 253; [2001] 2 FLR 927.

Service of Application
As required by the Practice Direction, advance notice
should normally be given to the national media via the
Press Association's CopyDirect service. Applicants should
first telephone CopyDirect (tel. no: 0870 837 6429).
Documentation should be sent either by fax (fax no:
0870 830 6949) or to the e-mail address provided by
CopyDirect. CopyDirect will be responsible for notifying
the individual media organisations. In the case of an
application against the world at large this is sufficient
service for the purposes of advance notice. The website
http://www.medialawyer.press.net/courtapplications
gives details of the organisations represented and instructions
for service of the application. Unless there is a particular
reason not to do so, copies of all the documents referred
to above should be served. If there is a reason for
not serving some or all of the documents (or parts of
them), the applicant should ensure sufficient detail
is given to enable the media to make an informed decision
as to whether it wishes to attend or be legally represented. The CopyDirect service does not extend to
local or regional media or magazines. If service of
the application on any specific organisation or person
not covered is required it should be effected directly.
The Official Solicitor and CAFCASS Legal hold lists
of contact details for many national and some regional
news organisations, and these are posted on their websites.

The Hearing
Any application invoking Convention rights will involve
a balancing of rights under Article 8 (right to respect
for private and family life) and Article 10 (freedom
of expression). There is no automatic precedence as
between these Articles, and both are subject to qualification
where (among other considerations) the rights of others
are engaged. Section 12(4) of the Act requires the court
to have particular regard to the importance of freedom
of expression. It must also have regard to the extent
to which material has or is about to become available
to the public, the extent of the public interest in
such material being published and the terms of any relevant
privacy code (such as those of the Press Complaints
Commission).
The court's approach is laid down in Re S (a child)(identification:
restriction on publication) [2004] EWCA Civ 963,
[2004] Fam 43(CA), [2004] UKML47 and [2004] 3 FCR 407(HL)
and Campbell-v-MGN Ltd [2004] UKHL 22. Guidance
on the application of s12(3) is now also provided in
Cream Holdings Ltd v Bannerjee [2004] UKHL
44.

Scope of OrderPersons protected
The aim should be to protect the child or incapacitated
adult, rather than to confer anonymity on other individuals
or organisations. However, the order may include restrictions
on identifying or approaching specified family members,
carers, doctors or organisations in cases where the
absence of such restriction is likely to prejudice their
ability to care for the child or patient, or where identification
of such persons might lead to identification of the
child or patient and defeat the purpose of the order.
In cases where the court receives expert evidence the
identity of the experts (as opposed to treating clinicians)
is not normally subject to restriction.Identifying persons protected
Once an order has been made, the details of those protected
by the order should normally be contained in the Schedule.
In exceptional cases (for example Leeds NHS Trust-v-A
& B [2003] 1 FLR 1091) where it is not appropriate
for details to be given, a description by reference
to the facts of the case should be contained in the
Schedule to enable those reading the order to identify
whether a person is likely to be the subject of the
order.Information already in the public domain
Orders will not usually prohibit publication of material
which is already in the public domain, other than in
exceptional cases such as Venables and Thompson-v-News
Group Newspapers Ltd [2001] Fam 430.Duration of Order
Orders should last for no longer than is necessary
to achieve the purpose for which they are made. The
maximum extent of an order in a child case will usually
be the child's 18th birthday. In the case of an incapacitated
adult the order will normally end on death. In some
cases a later date may be necessary, to protect safety
or welfare, or the anonymity of other children who are
named in the order and who are still under age, or to
maintain the anonymity of doctors or carers after the
death of a patient. See for example: Re C (Adult
Patient: Publicity [1996] 2 FLR 251 Venables
and Thompson-v-News Group Newspapers Ltd [2001]
Fam 430 X (formerly known as Mary Bell)-v-Y and
others [2003] EWHC QB 1101.

Service of Orders
Service of orders should be effected in the usual way,
ie by fax or by post. Contact details for the national
press and broadcasters can be found under the Media Organisations link.

Undertakings in Damages
The court will consider whether it is appropriate to
require an applicant to give such an undertaking in
an individual case, particularly when an order is made
without notice, and will bear in mind the applicant's
capacity to fulfil any such undertaking.

Explanatory Notes
It is helpful if applications and orders are accompanied
by an explanatory note, from which persons served can
readily understand the nature of the case. In any case
where notice of an application has not been given, the
explanatory note should explain why.